A plurality of advertising and marketing executives (39 percent) believe public relations or corporate communications should oversee an organization's social media efforts.

A plurality of advertising and marketing executives (39 percent) believe public relations or corporate communications should oversee an organization's social media efforts, slightly ahead of the 35 percent who believe the marketing department is best placed to lead—but well ahead of customer service (15 percent).

The national survey was developed by The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service for interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals.

A separate survey by The Creative Group suggests companies will be channeling more dollars toward social media. More than six in 10 (62 percent) advertising and marketing executives interviewed said they expect companies to increase their spending on Facebook marketing in the next 12 months. This is up from 53 percent who planned to boost their Facebook budget one year ago.

Executives also anticipate companies will channel more marketing dollars toward LinkedIn (51 percent) and Google Plus (50 percent), up from 38 percent and 41 percent of respondents, respectively, last year.

The Creative Group offers four tips to help companies delegate social media activities:
• Make it a group effort. There are many aspects to corporate social media -- including posting updates and engaging with followers, responding to customer queries and complaints, and analyzing activity -- and it's a lot for one person, much less one department, to handle. Create cross-departmental working groups to manage social media activities, leveraging the strengths of different teams. Also be sure to establish clear success metrics and accountability for reaching them.
• Scout for internal talent. Identify current employees who have expressed an active interest in social media and can help drive the effort -- whether from a strategy, execution or maintenance standpoint.
• Communicate best practices to all employees. Even if you plan to rely solely on a select group of people to represent your brand via social media, all staff members should be provided with company guidelines regarding posting content, managing feedback and handling negative commentary. Employees equipped with these best practices may become your company's strongest brand ambassadors, even if they're tweeting and posting from a personal versus corporate account.
• Bring in reinforcements. Social media moves at lightning speed and your current staff may not have the time or expertise to keep up with the constant activity. Bringing in highly skilled freelancers who have experience developing, launching and managing social media campaigns can help alleviate the workload and provide outside expertise your team may lack.